


Birthday Surprise

by hourtohourtohour



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: BBC Ghosts - Freeform, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:13:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26731180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hourtohourtohour/pseuds/hourtohourtohour
Summary: The Captain helps Kitty out with a problem and the ghosts celebrate Alison's birthday.
Relationships: Alison/Mike (Ghosts TV 2019), The Captain & Kitty (Ghosts TV 2019)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 120





	Birthday Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> cheers to the ghiscord for helping me out with a couple points, you're all lovely :)
> 
> WARNING: contains slight spoilers for season 2 episode 5
> 
> i love kitty and cap's dynamic, especially in s1ep6 and i kinda get father/daughter vibes? is that just me? anyway please enjoy some pure fluff

The Captain stared out at the gathering darkness over the grounds of Button House. It had been a fairly uneventful day with only minor squabbling between the ghosts, other than when Julian had spoiled the film they were planning on watching that evening. The Captain was preparing for a quiet night as Alison was going out with some friends and had made the ghosts promise to ‘not do anything crazy so you don’t nearly give Mike another bloody heart attack’. He was just wondering if he could cut a closer corner on his evening run that would cut his time down by a second or two when Kitty rushed into the room.

“Ah, good evening Katherine-” He paused, noticing the tears streaming down her face. “Is everything alright?”

“Alison!” was all she managed to get out before she broke down in another round of sobs.

“I’m sorry? Kitty what is the matter?” He tried not to sigh, wondering where Patrick was and why Kitty was telling him this and not the far friendlier scout leader.

“Alison’s going out with her friends to celebrate her birthday!” Kitty sniffed.

“Yes?” the Captain asked, struggling to see where this was going.

“It’s her birthday in a few days and I - I can’t give her a present!” Kitty descended into loud, hiccuping sobs again.

“Right.” The Captain rocked back and forth on his heels, trying to find a solution or at least something to say that wouldn’t make Kitty cry even more.

“Well, I’m sure Alison will understand that you can’t give her a present and won’t think any less of you.”

“But giving presents is how you show how much someone means to you! And I’m sure all her other friends will give her presents! And that means they’re all better friends than me! And I’m meant to be her best friend!”

“Katherine.” The Captain tried to make his voice gentle to avoid any further hysterics. He had never been the person that people came to when they had a problem, probably because they realised he was pretty clueless in matters like these. However, he couldn’t help feeling oddly flattered that Kitty had come to confide in him, so was determined to find a solution for her.

“Were any of Alison’s friends there when she lost her keys? You were the one who found them for her, you were the one who comforted her when she cried for half an hour after watching Marly and Me, you were the one who helped her pick her outfit earlier. It is abundantly clear to Alison and everyone else how much you care for her, so it doesn’t matter if you can’t get her a present. You being there for her is enough.”

Kitty was silent for a moment, and the Captain glanced at the doorway quickly to check that none of the other ghosts had heard his little speech - he couldn’t be seen to be going soft, after all. Kitty nodded slowly, before suddenly rushing forwards and throwing her arms around the Captain’s neck and hugging him. He stiffened and muttered “Good Lord,” before realising this was the first time someone had hugged him in almost eighty years. Exhaling and making an effort to relax, he patted Kitty gingerly on the back a couple times, before stepping back and mumbling a quiet “At ease”.

“Thank you, Captain. You’re right, I don’t need to give someone a present to be a good friend.”

An idea started to take hold as the Captain thought back to the last time Alison had left the ghosts alone with Michael. “Though I do wonder if you could get her a present after all…” 

“What?”

“Meeting in the drawing room at 1900 hours, alert the others please, Katherine,” he said, striding out the room, though not before seeing Kitty’s little dance of happiness.

-

“So what’s all this about then?” Julian asked once they were all gathered in the drawing room. 

“As you all know, in three days time it is Alison’s birthday,” the Captain began, ignoring half the ghosts muttering that they didn’t know that.

“Kitty has expressed a wish to give Alison a present, and since Alison has been kind to us, I think we should all try to assist in this. We will decide what to give Alison, then Robin will alert Michael of our presence and Julian will communicate with Michael. Understood? Now, any ideas? Sensible suggestions only please.”

-

After 45 minutes and all of Thomas’ suggestions being shot down, the ghosts had finally come up with a couple of presents they agreed Alison would appreciate. They all gathered around Mike eagerly as Robin led him into the bathroom by flickering the lights in turn. Though they had done it before, communicating with Mike was very exciting to all the ghosts - even Fanny was craning her head to get a look. Talking to Mike took a while but the Captain was dictating what Julian should write to avoid his typical long-winded expressions. By the time Alison got home, the items had been ordered by Mike and the ghosts were in bed, though Kitty couldn’t sleep for excitement.

-

Three days later, Alison woke to complete silence. No ghost pigeon cooing noisily, no ghosts bickering or demanding something of her, no Mike snoring. She exhaled and appreciated the peace, realising she hadn’t felt this calm in a good while. A couple minutes later Mike entered with a mug of tea, handing it to her with a grin, a ‘happy birthday’ and a quick kiss. It was only when Alison went to deepen the kiss and automatically checked to see if there are any ghosts around did she realise how unusual it was that the deceased members of the house hadn’t bothered her yet. Did they know it was her birthday? She hadn’t made a big deal out of it, but it was thoughtful of them to give her some peace. Maybe it was a birthday present from them? Just then Mike cupped his hand on her cheek, and she decided to stop thinking about the ghosts for the time being.

-

Half an hour later she entered the drawing and was greeted by the ghosts singing her happy birthday very enthusiastically, if a little out of tune.

“Thanks guys! Wow, I didn’t realise you knew it was my birthday!” 

Kitty let out a little gasp at the insinuation of her not knowing her best friend’s birthday. “Of course we knew! Friends remember each other's birthdays!”

“Yeah, course Kitty. And thanks for the peace and quiet this morning - it really means a lot.”

“No problem!” Pat said, “We’ll try to stay out of your way today, give you some time with Mike. Now for your presents!”

Julian and Robin stepped away from in front of the table to reveal three wrapped presents.

Alison gasped as Mike entered the room behind her and slipped his arm around her waist.  
“Oh my god - guys, you didn’t need to get me anything!”

“Oh, open them! Please open them now! I want to see if you like them!” Kitty squealed, bouncing in excitement.

Smiling with fondness but also slightly wary of what the presents may contain, Alison approached the table and began to unwrap her presents from the ghosts. The first contained a selection of bath bombs, oils and salts. 

“They’res to help yous relax!” Mary exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Pat added, “We know dealing with us and the house can be a bit of a handful sometimes so we thought you could do with some down time!"

The Captain shuddered at the agonising 8 minutes (he had timed it) spent trying to work out what Julian meant by 'those fizzing bath things Margot liked', being the only one to have seen a bath bomb in his life.Thankfully Kitty remembered the late Heather Button using one in the late '90s. It had then taken a further 10 minutes to explain that no, the bath bomb would not cause Alison any damage, merely made the bath water a sparkly colour, something that mistified the Captain as much as the others.

"Wow! Thanks guys, that's really thoughtful of you!"

“Open next one! Was my idea!” Robin shouted, pointing at the next present.

Slightly apprehensively, Alison unwrapped it, revealing a pair of noise-cancelling earphones.

“So you no hear us when you no want!” Robin grinned.

“Robin that’s-” Alison paused, genuinely touched, “That’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

Robin just shrugged. “Means I have to jump in front of you to scare you. Still fun.”

Rolling her eyes but still smiling fondly, Alison began to unwrap the last present, fearful that Kitty might actually explode if she didn’t open it in the next minute. Under the wrapping paper was a small box, inside which was a necklace with a small amber ball hanging from a thin golden chain. It didn’t take long for Alison to realise that it was almost identical to the one Kitty was wearing, having been shown it on many occasions. She looked up to find Kitty wringing her hands in anticipation.

“Do you like it? Please say you like it!”

“Oh Kitty, it’s wonderful, it’s-”

“I wanted to get us friendship necklaces like the ones Pat was telling me about but I can’t wear a new necklace so I thought you could get a necklace like mine! So it’s our own special friendship necklace!”

“Thank you Kitty, I’ll treasure it! I haven’t got such a thoughtful present in ages!” At this Kitty smiled so widely that for a second the Captain worried that she was going to do some damage to her face. “And thank you for the presents, all of you,” Alison continued.

“You’re very welcome! Can you thank Mike on our behalf for helping us?” Pat asked.

Alison turned to her husband. “The ghosts say thank you for your help.”

“Oh, yeah, no prob,” Mike said, facing in the completely wrong direction, managing to only give Fanny a thumbs up.

“We’ll get out of your way, then,” Pat said, “let you enjoy your day with Mike. Well, we hope you have a lovely birthday!”

“Actually guys, hang on a sec. Just because you can’t help me blow out the candles, doesn’t mean you can’t join in the celebrations. Besides, it’ll be lonely without you lot.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed that! please come chat to me about ghosts on tumblr @bertie-w-wooster !!


End file.
